Paradigm, Payal Khandwala’s Autumn Winter collection focuses on wardrobe staples for the women of new India. The collection leans towards being global in design but is intrinsically Indian wear.
Using cultural elements like draping, pleating and tucking teamed with tailored details, Khandwala has reimagined a transitional closet of timeless garments that are always, both fierce and feminine, something that will never go out of style.
“To begin with, we try to disassociate ourselves from the fashion landscape, especially the Indian fashion. The reason is that our clothes are not about fashion and nor do they change so much from one season to the other. We are trying to offer clothes to women where they don’t feel compelled to change their wardrobe every sixth month,” says Khandwala.
“I make clothes that I would want to wear. And every time I’m working on a collection, I try them on. If I’m comfortable in it, we grad them up. So, the inspiration for all my collections has always been the women who are eventually going to wear them,” she adds.
For this collection, the silhouettes are simple and minimal but it is the play of colours that attracts you the most.
“I feel that colours are something that I have the most room to play with. Combining colours is something that comes very naturally to me. While I love the dual colours, the emerald green, this time we wanted it to be slightly deeper and less saturated than we typically do. We have more black, a lot of silver and topaz to give the illusion of gold. Topaz also gives a break to the flow of deep forest green, blue and red.”
The play of colours is coupled with handwoven silks to highlight India’s indigenous local crafts in a context that is more global.
The collection dominantly plays with handwoven silk; some are matka, mulberry and even khadi silks.
Also, colour blocking doesn’t happen by sowing different fabrics together, rather it happens at the weaving level. “If I want to make a jumpsuit of a certain length with particular inches in black and the rest in another colour and then dye them. So we usually work backwards,” elaborates Khandwala.
The result: a distinct, luxurious collection that’s comfortable to wear.